PATRIOTS NOTEBOOK: Slater earns Bart Starr Award

The Patriots' special teams captain is selected by his peers to receive the award, which is presented annually to a player who exemplifies character and leadership on and off the football field.

Glen Farley The Enterprise @GFarley_ent

FOXBORO – The Bart Starr Award is now a family affair.

Following in the footsteps of his father, who earned the honor in 1996, Patriots special teams captain Matt Slater has been selected by his peers to receive the Bart Starr Award, presented annually to a player who exemplifies character and leadership on and off the field.

The presentation is scheduled to take place at the 30th annual NFL-Sanctioned Super Bowl Breakfast to be held at the Marriott Marquis in Houston on Feb. 4, the day before Super Bowl LI at NRG Stadium.

Slater, who earlier this season was selected to his sixth consecutive Pro Bowl, described his reaction to his latest honor as “really emotional.

“I think you guys know well enough by covering me that I really value the human element of football. I really value the relationships that I’ve made with people over the years,” Slater said Wednesday. “All that stems from the faith that I have in God and the way that I was raised by my parents. I’m a man who’s far from perfect, but I really feel like the Lord has done a lot of great things in my life. He’s working on me as a man, as a husband, as a father, but I’ve always tried to keep in perspective that I’m no different than anyone else because I play football. It’s just a job.

“Really, at the end of the day the connection that we make with people, the way we treat people, the things that you try to stand for and believe in, although it may be not perfect at times it’s something that’s very important to me. So to win this award, an award my dad won in 1996, it’s hard to put into words. It really is.”

Slater’s father, Jackie, was a Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive lineman with the Los Angeles-St. Louis Rams, his career spanning from 1976-1995.

The duo is the first father-and-son tandem to win the award, all of which added to the emotion when Slater phoned his parents.

“It was hard for me to judge my dad’s reaction because my mom was going so crazy in the background,” said Slater. “But we Facetimed him with my son like we normally do and I broke the news to him.

“I think it’s very humbling for us. (For) an offensive lineman and a special teams player to get this kind of recognition, we don’t really hold ourselves in that high regard. We’re just guys that are thankful for all the opportunities we’ve had. We’ve had a special journey, my dad and I, starting in 1976 for him and starting in 2008 for me.”

According to safety Devin McCourty, a fellow team captain, the award was well deserved.

“The amount I’ve learned from ‘Slate,’ you can’t really explain or write it down on one sheet of paper,” said McCourty. “He’s been a tremendous leader, a role model for everybody in the locker room, and I think now in his ninth year you can say the same thing about him in year four or five. Older guys that were vets came in here and you looked at ‘Slate,’ you looked to see what he did, obviously because he was a great player but his character, who he was as a person, is what always will stick out about him and I think for the guys to be a part of him receiving that award, sitting in there and seeing what it meant to him, it was really cool.

“So I’m proud of him and happy he got the acknowledgement that he’s really deserved throughout his whole NFL career and really his whole life. It didn’t just start now. (I’m) honored just to play with him and to call him a friend.”

Edelman honored: Wide receiver Julian Edelman’s eight receptions for 151 yards, including a 77-yard touchdown, in last Sunday’s 35-14 regular season-ending win at Miami earned him the AFC Offensive Player of the Week award.

Talking about practice: Quarterback Jacoby Brissett, defensive tackle Malcom Brown, running back D.J. Foster, defensive end Geneo Grissom, fullback Glenn Gronkowski, tight end Matt Lengel, linebacker Elandon Roberts and offensive tackle LaAdrian Waddle were named the Patriots’ practice players of the week for their efforts leading up to the Dolphins game.